stuff I think about after reading the Bible EVERY DAY very early in the morning

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

right living

Phillipi
was a large city in the northeastern section of Greece, near the
border of what is now Turkey.

It
was a wealthy city, a crossroads of trade to & from the middle
east & the lands beyond.

There
was a small group of followers of Jesus within the city that Paul had
worked to bring together.

It
is evident from his letter to them that Paul loved this bunch of
Christ followers living & expressing Christ's love in a vibrant
city that probably held all the virtues & vices found in any
other thriving Roman city.

As
I read chapter 2 this morning, I wondered what the areas in which we
each live would be like & how they each would be impacted if we
each lived lives that Paul challenges the Philippians followers of
Jesus to live.

I
wonder how the Philippians viewed these followers of Jesus, followers
of The Way.

I
wonder how our world would view us & the One we follow if we
tried to live much like Paul encouraged the Philippian Christ
followers to live.

Philippians
2

1 Is
there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?

Any
comfort from his love?

Any
fellowship together in the Spirit?

Are
your hearts tender and compassionate?

2 Then
make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other,

loving
one another,

and
working together with one mind and purpose.

3 Don't
be selfish;

don't
try to impress others.

Be
humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

4 Don't
look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others,
too.

5 You
must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though
he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to
cling to.

7 Instead,
he gave up his divine privileges;

he
took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

When
he appeared in human form,

8
he humbled himself in obedience to God

and
died a criminal's death on a cross.

9 Therefore,
God elevated him to the place of highest honor

and
gave him the name above all other names,

10 that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,

11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.

12 Dear
friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you.

And
now that I am away, it is even more important.

Work
hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep
reverence and fear.

13 For
God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what
pleases him.

14 Do
everything without complaining and arguing,15 so
that no one can criticize you.

Live
clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights
in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

16 Hold
firmly to the word of life;

then,
on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the
race in vain and that my work was not useless.